Sod cutters, a type of earthworking machine, are useful for enhancing the quality of a lawn, but they also aid in reducing labor. Sod cutters are useful for lifting and relocating or repositioning sod, expanding existing flower beds or establishing new ones, or removing sod or grass, for example in areas where shrubs or trees are to be added. Known sod cutters are designed for cutting and removal of strips of soil, grass, sod, etc. and come in a variety of sizes.
Generally, sod cutters are most often used by commercial landscapers, golf courses, and rental houses. There are a wide range of users and usages, ranging from a relatively small project of a home owner to remove a strip or small area of sod or grass to a large project involving the complete removal of an entire lawn. Further, commercial landscapers may often use a sod cutter all day long, on a daily basis. For commercial entities, the sod cutter can be used to cut a strip of new sod, which is to be used as a replacement piece.
Conventional sod cutters comprise a frame, end plates, two axles, four wheels, an engine, a cutting blade and a blade depth control lever, a drive shaft, a power drive system to drive or power the unit forward, and handle bars to be grasped by the user/operator. The power drive system comes in a number of different designs, such as a friction drive, drive shaft, drive chain, belt drives, or may be gear driven. The engine, often manufactured by Honda, Subaru, Briggs, Kohler, Kawasaki or the like, provides power to the cutting blade.
The cutting blade is typically an oscillatory sharp blade that moves in an oscillatory fashion as the sod cutter is driven forward by the user, thereby cutting down to a controlled depth to obtain a strip of grass, sod, etc., which the user may then remove. The blade depth control lever is an adjustable lever which is pivotally mounted on the frame and is engaged with the drive shaft axle, such that the shaft turns and moves as the cutting blade oscillates. The blade assembly can be a single blade or a split blade, wherein two blades move in opposite directions. The oscillatory movement of the blade(s) and the resistance of the material being cut cause vibrations, which are transmitted through the frame and handles to the hands and arms of the user.
As such, conventional sod cutters do not take into account a user's comfort. In particular, the oscillations of the blade(s) cause the entire machine to bounce and vibrate, and the vibrations and motions inevitably reach the user. European health and safety regulations actually impose a limit on the use or operation of a sod cutter, depending on what type of machine is being used. Per the European regulations, once a worker has been subjected to the daily maximum allowable vibration limit, the worker cannot operate the sod cutter or any other equipment.
Using or operating sod cutters beyond the prescribed time limit can cause the user/operator to suffer loss of feeling, numbness and other issues in his/her arms and hands. Some users also suffer tingling of the arms, hands, and body after long exposure from using the machine. Further, long operation of conventional sod cutters can result in overall body soreness and pain.
Further, there are various other controls associated with conventional sod cutters which cause vibrating of the unit. For example, a sod cutter typically includes a cutting device on its sides to cut a square vertical edge in the soil. All of the motion produced by the engine and the mechanical moving components of the sod cutter, such as the oscillating blade(s), gears, belts, etc., result in a rocking and rolling motion of the sod cutter and vibrations which are transmitted through the handle assembly to the user's hands and arms.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a sod cutter having a mechanical shock and vibration isolation system or configuration for operator comfort and safety. In particular, it would be beneficial to provide a sod cutter which isolates the hands and arms of the operator from the vibrations and shock generated by the sod cutter. Such a configuration would be extremely beneficial because an operator would be able to operate, adjust from forward to reverse, perform set and lock functions, and observe results without having to abandon the operating position due to vibrations and shock.